Posted on

How do parents choose different interventions?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Parents have choices of dozens of different autism interventions, available in private and public settings.  A new study explores factors which influence parents decisions on different interventions, how they are similar to each other and different.  They include cognitive ability of their kids with ASD and economic resources.  Parents in the US may have similarities in how they obtain interventions, but they are also similar in how they identify autism signs in their preschool kids, and these similarities are seen across the world.  In a new study of over 19,000 preschoolers with autism, some similarities are seen in parent reported symptoms of ASD across 24 different countries.  This is pretty remarkable given societal, geographical, and cultural issues.  But it’s not all harmony and unity – there were lots of differences between parents and teachers which can have enormous impact on how autism is diagnosed worldwide.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30990248

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30995081

 

Posted on

A different type of autism?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Last week, investigators with the Autism Treatment Network published a long awaited study on the differences between the DSM IV and DSM5.    Other studies had relied on information on old pieces of paper to judge whether or not someone who met criteria under DSM IV would be now diagnosed with DSM5 criteria.  This study, on the other hand, used in person evaluations of over 400 individuals with autism.  PI from the Missouri site and lead author of a new study, Dr. Micah Mazurek was gracious enough to provide a summary of the findings in the podcast.  A quick preview:  they showed differences in the diagnosis in the group previously known as PDD-NOS.  Is this a new type of autism?  Their symptoms were less severe and they had normal IQ ability – do they have a subtype of autism or a new form of ADHD?  This study isn’t the first to suggest using different categories of symptoms of autism like DSM IV did, and indicates that the new criteria of the DSM  5 are more specific.  In addition, a 2 minute summary of all the great presentations at the Autism Society of America is given.  Totally insufficient to describe everything that went on, but it’s a start.

Posted on

A focus on the siblings of people with ASD

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Two studies recently add to an ever growing literature around undiagnosed siblings of individuals with autism.  While in autism features there is evidence of the “broader autism phenotype” in female siblings, there is no evidence of elevated sensory symptoms in those with a brother or system with autism.  The more we understand about the psychological and psychiatric features of siblings with autism, the more they can be supported to deal not only with their siblings challenges, but with theirs as well.